Anzac Day poppies go on sale in Wairarapa

Anzac poppies went on sale in Masterton on Friday.
With the first poppy appeal held in New Zealand in April 1922, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association puts the nationwide voluntary organisation's appeal at one of the oldest in the country.
In Masterton 12 stalls hit the streets to sell poppies, manned by helpers from Te Runga Scout Group, Wairarapa Heart Foundation, Masterton Catholic Women's League, Waingawa Country Women's Institute, Masterton Town's Women's Guild and the Masterton Returned and Services' Association women's section.
Masterton RSA secretary Rosemarie Hickland and women's section member Joan Dean organised the appeal.
Mrs Hickland said that some of the stalls were operational from 6am on Friday.
"All the monies raised in a local area stays in a local area and goes towards welfare of servicemen and women and their families."
She said throughout the day, a couple of people would visit the stalls to collect the money and ensure the stallholders had enough poppies and pins. Mrs Hickland said other RSAs throughout the district, would be organising their own collections.
In Masterton, three war veterans who were part of the New Zealand Army wore their poppies with pride - Masterton RSA president Bevan Hefferen, who served in Thailand as part of the five-support squadron, Bill Burt served as part of the 2nd New Zealand division of Cavalry in Italy and Ted Dashfield in Japan with the 22nd battalion.
Mr Dashfield said, "We wear these poppies now as an emblem of sacrifice.
"The red petal is for sacrifice and the black is sort of resisting the violence that's in the world and the green stem is all those guys that were killed young - green's the colour of growing things and they were cut off so it's a very fitting symbol."
With the Anzac Day Dawn Parade approaching on Wednesday, Mr Burt said that attendees are on the increase, and they're getting younger too.
"I think kids learn more about it at school and of course a lot of their parents or grandparents were involved," he said.
Mr Dashfield, who is the padre of the parade said, "I think too that young people are becoming far more conscious of history and their place in the world."
He estimates the average age of Dawn Parade attendees 20 years ago would be 60, whereas he now puts it at 30. He said the younger ones are entitled to wear the medals of war veteran family members on their right breast.
The Dawn Parade gathers in Masterton on Wednesday at 5.30am at the War Memorial Stadium on Dixon Street, followed by a march to the cenotaph at Queen Elizabeth Park.